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MESSERSCHMITT BF-109

The standard German fighter plane throughout World War II was a
single-engine, low-wing monoplane known as the Messerschmitt Bf-109, of which more than
35,000 were produced during a ten-year span from 1935 until the war's end. The Bf-109 was
designed by Willi Messerschmitt and, in 1937, set a new
world speed record for land planes by flying at just a fraction under 380 miles per hour.

In combat, the Messerschmitt was armed with two 20-millimeter
cannons, plus a pair of 7.9-millimeter machine guns. The weight of this armament, plus
armor plate to protect the pilot, and a full load of fuel reduced the Bf-109's maximum
speed in combat to just under340 miles per hour.

Still the Messerschmitt was the world's fastest and deadliest
operational fighter plane when it first saw service during the Spanish Civil War. With the
outbreak of World War II in early September of 1939, the Bf-109 continued its mastery in
the skies over Europe as the Nazi blitzkrieg, or "lighting war," swept
across Poland, the Low Countries and France.

However, during the first months of the Second World War, as was the case
earlier in Spain, the Messerschmitt Bf-109 never faced serious competition in combat.
For no country on the continent of Europe possessed a fighter plane that could come
close to matching the plane's speed, armament or overall performance.

The German Luftwaffe's overwhelming advantage came to an end, however, in
the six week Battle of Britain during the summer and fall of 1940, when more than 600
Bf-109s were downed by England's Spitfire and Hurricane
fighters. The Messerschmitt remained an effective fighter, but the world now knew it
could be beaten.

The Messerschmitt Bf-109 was powered by a 12 cylinder, water-cooled
Daimler-Benz engine producing over 1,000 horsepower. Its service ceiling was about
35,000 feet, and its maximum range was just over 400 miles.

Over the years the Bf-109 was consistently modified and improved with a
series of new and more powerful engines to enhance its speed and performance. By the
end of the war the final model of the fighter could attain a speed approaching 450 miles
per hour.

The preceding information was extracted from the pamphlet,
"The Great Airplanes Sterling Silver Miniature Collection", published by The Franklin Mint, 1979.
Permission was granted to ALLSTAR by The Franklin
Mint to use the preceding materials.ALLSTAR maintains the copyright for the format in which the material is presented.